


Homecoming

by MiraMira



Series: genhp_ldws entries [6]
Category: Harry Potter - Rowling
Genre: Family, Gen, One Shot, Wordcount: 100-1.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-12
Updated: 2010-07-12
Packaged: 2017-10-10 12:57:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/100026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiraMira/pseuds/MiraMira
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An unexpected reaction to an unexpected moment: Bill breaks the news that he's coming back from Egypt</p>
            </blockquote>





	Homecoming

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the HP Gen Last Drabble Writer Standing competition @ LJ

"Bill!" Mum, wand still upraised to perform what he assumes from the cobwebs on her apron to be cleaning charms, gapes at him in gratifying surprise before ushering him into the Burrow. "My goodness, why didn't you warn me you were coming for a visit? Dumbledore's asked…well, we've certain preparations to make, and the house is in such a state…"

"It's all right, Mum," he assures her, ignoring the cobwebs as he bends down to give her a hug. "Actually, I'm not visiting. Gringotts approved my transfer to the London office." He grins and squeezes her tighter, waiting for her to respond in kind.

Instead, Mum's arms stiffen at her side. As he pulls away in confusion, he can see that her face is pale, unreadable. (Mum, unreadable: until this moment, he would have scoffed at such a notion.)

"I thought you'd be pleased," he says at last.

"Of course I am," she responds at once, too brightly. "I just…Dumbledore's spoken to you as well, hasn't he?"

"Yes," he admits. "But coming home was my idea. I can sound out the goblin leadership more effectively from here. Besides, cursebreaking's begun to lose some of its charm. Maybe this is a sign it's time for me to settle down."

"I doubt there'll be much settling for some time to come." Her voice is brittle, and quickly breaks into tears as she clings to him. "Oh, Bill, everything's happening so _fast._"

Unsure how to help, all he can do is hold her.

...

"I thought you'd be pleased," Bill says.

She is. Should be. Would have been, had his announcement come at any point during the past several years after she'd awoken from another nightmare of him crushed beneath a pile of masonry, poisoned by a runespoor bite, struck down by a curse. But her nightmares of late have taken on a different cast, and her only consolation upon waking has been the thought, _At least Bill and Charlie are safe._

"Of course I am," she says, brushing aside her qualms, because she is a mother, and it is her job to be loving and supportive. But not all those who deal with children on a regular basis are parents, and at times, they do not understand what they ask. "Dumbledore's spoken to you as well, hasn't he?"

Bill hastens to reassure her it was his idea. She does not doubt that. Young men of action will use any excuse to put themselves in the thick of battle. Fabian and Gideon were the same. But then he speaks of settling down, and she thinks of the cousins he never had as playmates, the grandchildren she may never know.

Bill, her trailblazer, wants to settle down. Percy, her dependable one, recoils from her overtures. Ginny, her baby, is growing into a beauty. And how or whether these changes will resolve themselves, she cannot tell. "Everything's happening so fast," she whispers.

He holds her, and for one brief, blessed moment, her world stands still again.


End file.
